Australia under fire for diverting foreign aid

Aid groups Tuesday attacked Australia's plans to divert hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid to help pay for asylum-seekers already in the country, saying it was a blow for the world's poor. Foreign Minister Bob Carr said up to A$375 million ($395 million) would be spent on basic subsistence for refugees waiting to have their claims heard in Australia. It will cover food, shelter and other essential items. "It's absolutely fair," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. "The fact is the OECD guidelines provide that if you're spending money on refugees and potential refugees on your own soil, it's to be counted as if you were spending money on refugees or potential refugees in refugee camps around the world," Carr said. But aid agencies criticised the decision which comes as Canberra battles to stem a rising flow of asylum-seekers, with more than 16,770 boatpeople arriving in Australia so far in 2012. The Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) called the diversion "an appalling breach of trust between the government and the Australian public", saying it would strip money from the world's poorest people. Executive director Marc Purcell said it was also out of step with undertakings Canberra made to the world as it sought support for significant positions in global leadership. "On the eve of Australia taking its seat on the United Nations Security Council, now is the time to show leadership," he said. World Vision Australia also condemned the move as "more than just an accounting trick". "We know aid saves lives -- the number of children dying each year has nearly halved over the past two decades," said chief executive Tim Costello. "If these funds are siphoned away from health programmes, it could literally mean the difference between life and death for some of the world's most vulnerable people, including those in our own region." Carr said Australia's aid expenditure for fiscal 2012/13 would be a record A$5.2 billion. But he would not say from which programmes the A$375 million would be drawn during the fiscal year ending June 30.